12-05-2025
Karnataka HC orders state govt to give cash awards to medallists of 2017 World Dwarf Games
The Karnataka High Court recently ordered the state government to give cash awards to medallists from Karnataka at the 7th World Dwarf Games conducted in Canada in 2017. A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna in April granted the petition by C V Rajanna and other athletes and asked the government to comply with the order within eight weeks.
The World Dwarf Games is an international multi-sport competition held every four years for athletes of short stature, similar to the Paralympics. The Dwarf Sports Federation of India had sent 27 athletes, including the petitioners from Karnataka, to compete in the 2017 World Dwarf Games.
The petitioners claimed that their requests for cash prizes for medallists were ignored by the government. Their claim was also rejected after a previous high court judgment directed the government to consider their representation.
Arguing against the grant of the award, the state counsel noted that they had not participated under the sponsorship or direction of the state. He stated that if the request was granted, it would open the door for any participant outside the state's knowledge to demand the same benefits as sponsored athletes.
In the order made public recently, the Karnataka High Court noted that the athletes were not requesting the cash prizes for the current Dwarf Games, but for the 2017 games. A government order from 2013 established cash prizes of Rs 5 lakh for bronze, Rs 7 lakh for silver, and Rs 10 lakh for gold medals, which were reportedly awarded to Paralympic athletes. A second order had been issued in 2017 by the government after the Games were over, under which the participants were not eligible for cash awards.
The bench then referred to the previous statement of the court when the matter was considered and noted, 'Undisputed facts of the case are, the State Government has issued two Guidelines. The first one on 30.11.2013 and the second one on 09.10.2017…….The argument advanced on behalf of the State that petitioner's case shall be considered under second guidelines is untenable….it is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to consider petitioner's application.'
The high court explained that the state order considering and rejecting the application for the cash award to the sportspersons had been made counter to the court's reasoning. The state's objections could not be accepted since the rights of the petitioners had been 'crystallised' under the 2013 order before the 2017 guidelines had taken force, the high court noted.
